room with this man and be able to take care of my life just like i would take care of his. he is without exception probably one of the best guys that ever came out of the law swat school and that's why he's in this unit now. >>are you sure you made the right choice? >>absolutely, i know i've made the right choice. to have the camaraderie, the teamwork, the ability to work out and train on a regular basis, and just have that trust in your fellow man. i know i've made the right choice joining this band of brothers. (vo)the rookie is soon back under pressure. he's been asked by stadium officials to throw a t-shirt into the crowd. let's hope he does a better job than with his flash-bang.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. good to see you today. it is thursday, january 24. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv this thursday morning. bringing you the news of the day. from our nation's capital and our studio here on capitol hill, from around the country and around the globe. and big news today in his final act as defense secretary leon panetta will announce today he's

lifting the ban on women serving in combat, a move that's long overdue, over 20,000 women have already served in combat in iraq and afghanistan. 131 of them giving their lives in those two wars. and if you don't believe that women are ready for armed combat just watch hillary clinton's testimony yesterday before senate republicans. man, she showed the way! all right. all of that and a lot more here on today's "full court press." but first, we get the latest, she does combat for us every morning, lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi lisa. good morning. >> hey bill. i don't know if i quite do combat but i do the news. good morning everyone. vice president joe biden is holding a talk on gun violence today. it is a modern-day version of roosevelt's fireside chat only this will be a google fireside hangout. the online meeting starts at 1:45 eastern this afternoon and lasts for half an hour.

biden will be alongside venture capital ist guy wysocki and phil defranco. they're discussing the new policies on curbing gun violence. biden has scheduled his first gun safety trip. friday, he's headed to richmond, virginia to discuss president obama's efforts on gun violence. it is a start of an outside push to build support for the president's new policies and while obama will likely also hit the road soon, for now he's staying home. biden will be joined by other administration officials and by virginia senator tim kaine. the house has passed a short-term extension on the debt ceiling, giving the country until may 18th to negotiate the limit and new budget priorities. as part of yesterday's deal though republicans are stepping up their austerity campaign and demanding steep cuts from president obama before they raise the debt ceiling. the g.o.p. is calling to balance the federal budget in just ten years. that's almost twice as fast as previous efforts by republicans.

if that is the case, medicare and other safety net programs wills take a huge hit. yesterday's extension of the debt ceiling now goes to the senate which will likely pass it as well. we'll be right back. (vo) current's award winning original series is back with an all new episode straight from the headlines. (vo) in the minefield of the nation's gun control debate, this could be the most polarizing issue. >> anybody can claim stand your ground and they could get away with murder.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: yes indeed. equality moves to the front lines as the pentagon today lifts the ban on women in combat. big move. a great move. hello, everybody. happy, happy thursday and welcome, welcome to the "full court press." coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours.

god bless america. we're booming out to you on your local progressive talk radio station. how lucky you are if you've got one. treasury -- treasure it. support it. this hour only on exirious. all three hours on current tv. good to have you with us. you can actually become a partner in the program. express your point of view. we want to know what you think about them. it is as important as anything i have to say. you can do so by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. you can follow us on twitter at bpshow. more and more people do. i was tweeting out yesterday from the white house briefing and you can follow my tweets there as long as you sign up to follow us on twitter. or on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. there is a lot to talk about today. this lifting of the ban on women

in combat, hillary clinton testifying yesterday in front of congress, controversy questions still swirl about beyonce did she or did she not lip-sync? we know she did. and still trying to resolve the situation in algeria in libya in syria keeping her eye on that part of the world as well. and it is real. the results and the impact of the recent election. we've got all of that to cover and we will right here with the help of team press this morning. peter ogborn and dan henning leading up the battle. >> good morning. >> bill: phil backert's got the phones. and cyprian bowlding our videographer extraordinaire on the video cam. >> happy thursday. >> bill: what's up, guys. big news is it has snowed in washington for the first time this winter. >> for the first time in like two winters by the way. >> bill: we had no snow at all last winter.

and it was cold yesterday man. it was really cold. and this time we had -- you can't say it was much more than a dusting right? about an inch? >> i would say about an inch. >> we got an inch. covered the roads. >> bill: looks pretty. >> yeah. >> bill: but not enough to snarl -- one would hope, not enough to snarl traffic or close the schools or the government. >> federal government is on unscheduled leave today. >> bill: get out of here. >> unscheduled leave or telework. >> you overestimate -- >> bill: that's ridiculous. i didn't even have to put on my snow boots this morning. just regular -- >> a lot of schools are on a two-hour delay. >> bill: weenies. >> i will give a shout out -- we complain it is cold here. a shout out to our brothers and sisters in ithaca, new york. i spent five years of my life there. >> bill: five years to get through college? >> no. four and i worked there for a year.

i worked at the radio group. great place. negative 1 degree for the high there yesterday. negative 1. >> bill: yesterday it was up in -- >> mid teens here. >> bill: yeah but something -- damn it, what was it on the news last night. oh, i know, it was a ski resort in maine or new hampshire -- >> oh, i heard about this. >> bill: closed because it was too cold to ski. it was minus 27 degrees. >> holy cow! >> bill: never heard of it, too dold ski. wow. so -- >> i'll take what we've got. >> bill: who would have thunk it. who knew. james taylor did perform at the democratic convention in charlottesville -- in charlotte. and of course, he performed at the inauguration but i still never considered him you know like some big liberal democrat.

but it turns out he sort of is. and he was on charlie rose yesterday. he had taped this before the inauguration where he says it's people like karl rove that are destroying this nation. naming him by name. >> there are people who you know to their discredit, there are people who mine and encourage us to refight the civil war. they find political strength from doing that. i'm talking about karl rove here. reopening those wounds of the civil war. >> for political advantage. >> for political base. to hide their real political agenda which is elitist. >> he doesn't even wait for charlie rose to say who are you talking about? i'm talking about karl rove! >> bill: and the koch brothers. good for james taylor, man. he did sing for real.

>> played guitar. >> bill: on all of the foreign policies joe cirincione will be along. lynn sweet from the "chicago sun-times" and jeff kelley, center from american progress on prospects for comprehensive immigration reform this year. and hillary clinton rules the day yesterday in the united states congress. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> on this thursday, other headlines making news, in sports, a historic upset on the college hardwood last night. number one-ranked duke considered by that ranking as the best basketball team in the country, lost to the unranked university of miami and not by a close margin. 90-63. first time the hurricanes beat a number one team. they're now 14-3. >> i went to bed before the game was over last night. i was watching some of the highlights this morning. it was amazing. they never -- it was never close.

they were blowing them away from the very beginning. >> bill: duke of all schools. >> big surprise. beyonce has remained silent thus far on her lip-syncing national anthem performance at the inauguration, other singers have weighed in including aretha franklin who says the cool air temperature was not good singing weather and she likely would have done the same thing. >> aretha franklin did sing it in colder weather and she did it live. >> aerosmith's steven tyler said hey, whatever gets you through the night. beyonce is so hot, she can do anything. let's get real. >> bill: an inauguration official quoted this morning as saying she did not sing live. all of the nonsense over whether she did or not. b.s. she was lip-syncing. >> it looks like the mcrib saved mcdonald's from a bad fourth quarter. "huffington post" reporting the fast food chain's fourth quarter profits rose slightly and would

have been worse had they not brought back the mcrib during the winter. the pork sandwich. they made money because of their push to make many franchises stay open on thanksgiving and christmas. mcdonald has lost a bunch of market share to burger king and wendy's in the last year. >> i will say i did my duty over the holidays. i go to mcdonald's once a year. >> to get the mcrib? >> i go there just to go get my mcrib. just once. >> bill: is it worth it? >> yeah. i have to say. i really do like the mcrib. it has a lot to do with the fact that i ate them a lot when i was a kid. if you were not -- if you were new to the mcrib, you would probably think it tastes like crap like the rest of the mcdonald's food but i remember it fondly. >> bill: you can have mine. yes, indeed. i have to tell you man watching the secretary of state hillary clinton in front of the

senate foreign relations committee yesterday and she appeared in front of the house committee in the afternoon. i was reminded of several things. number one the republican war on women. it continues. it ain't over, man. they were in the middle of it yesterday. number two, it's a good thing that the violence against women act hasn't been renewed. otherwise there would have been some of the -- a whole handful of thugs in the republican -- republican thugs in the senate and house led by rand paul and john mccain who would have been arrested for assaulting secretary of state hillary clinton. and third, i kept thinking about what a glorious time for the pentagon to announce it was lifting the ban on women in combat because if there was any proof that women are ready for combat, it was watching hillary clinton. in front of those senators yesterday. i thought she was magnificent!

andself things about this hearing. but the first one we gotta say again, it's disgusting what the republicans have been doing. remember mitt romney started this, in the middle of the campaign, when we have a terrorist attack against the united states. it was just like 9-11 in the sense this was american soil, i don't care, benghazi is in libya but it is american soil. american consulate. terrorists attacked us. what do we do after 9-11, we all pulled together and said we're going to get those s.o.b.s. what did the republican party do after benghazi? we're going to get president obama. we're going to get hillary clinton. we're going to get susan rice. started by mitt romney. picked up by john mccain. ever since they've been trying to exploit the murder of a united states ambassador and three other americans for cheap political gains and they are still at it and still trying to make a big point about the fact

that when susan rice went on the sunday talk shows and gave what she said was preliminary information that would probably change might likely change the same information that was given to members of the senate, to members of the house and to the white house, they all had the very very, very same reports from our intelligence officers that republicans finding she was deliberately misleading the american people. they've been beating the drum ever since. it is false false false. it was gusting to see them do it yesterday. the secretary of state handled herself admirably. first of all, as she has done -- she was tough, she was patient but she didn't take any crap either. as she's done before, she said look the buck stops here. >> as i have said many times i take responsibility and nobody is more committed to getting this right. i'm determined to leave the

state department and our country, safer stronger and more secure. >> bill: she also said, you know this is -- this means a lot to her because she knew some of these people and their families personally. >> for me, this is not just a matter of policy. it is personal. i stood next to president obama as the marines carried those flag-draped caskets off the plane at andrews. i put my arms around the mothers and fathers the sisters and brothers, the sons and daughters and the weis left alone to raise their -- and the wives left alone to raise their children. >> bill: the sect pointed out our job is to prevent this from happening again and to protect our embassies and consulates around the world. but your job as members of congress is to provide the funding we need to build proper

security at our facilities around the world and you haven't done it. and she pointed out that they have blocked and voted against request after request after request to increase security at our installations. so she said you guys ought to take responsibility, too. but then the other thing about this hearing is just watching -- you know i think we ought to have, every once in awhile, a whole day devoted to the a-hole of the day. or yesterday was a-holes of the day. i gotta tell you, they were the republicans on that committee yesterday. let's start with -- i still can't take him seriously. rand paul. thinking he's going to run for president in 2016. he's got a play for the cameras here. >> i'm glad that you're accepting responsibility. i think that ultimately with your leaving you accept the culpability for the worst tragedy since 9-11. and i really mean that. had i been president at the time and i found that you did not

read the cables from benghazi, you did not read the cables from stevens, i would have relieved you of your post. >> bill: worst tragedy since 9-11, what about the 5,000 americans plus who were killed, gave their lives in iraq? in an illegal unnecessary war. i think that's a worse tragedy than four americans killed in benghazi. >> how did hillary clinton not laugh out loud, when he said if i were president. >> bill: junior, you'll never be president. we'll pick up the others later. ron johnson this jerk from wisconsin who doesn't deserve to be in the united states senate. boy, hillary leveled him. >> again, we were misled that there was supposedly protests and something sprang out of that and that was easily -- that was not the fact. people could have known that within days. >> with all due respect, the fact is we had four dead

americans. was it because of a protest or guys out for a walk who decide they would kill some americans? what difference, at this point does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again senator. >> bill: wham, bam slam! boy, she won that round. hillary clinton. i think it was her finest hour. clear winner yesterday. these guys looked like the total jerks that they are. this is what's destroying the republican party. they don't realize how bad they looked yesterday. or do they? or do they care? tell me what you think. 1-866-55-press. the "full court press" on this thursday morning. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident.

that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands?

you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> the american people deserve to know answers and they certainly don't deserve false answers. and the answers that were given the american people on september 15th by the ambassador of the united nations were false. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: there it is. john mccain who knows better beating a dead horse again. going back to susan rice when she appeared on those sunday talk shows with the report that had been given to john mccain, other members of the senate, every member of the house and to the white house and susan rice telling the world before -- she

reported what we had been told about what happened in benghazi. she said these are the initial reports. they could very well prove not to be true. they could very well change. they proved not to be true. you attack her for lies? john mccain, get over it. but hillary clinton i thought won the day yesterday. peter, on -- >> so many good comments on social media. on twitter we're tweeting at bpshow. hillary was fabulous. she put those jerks in their place. we're also getting a lot of comments in the chat room at current.com/billpress. >> rand paul is a freakin' moron. the more i hear out of hit mouth, the more i realize he should have been in b rated movies. >> bill: he's a little pipsqueak. >> patty says with all of the sexism in politics, it is nice to see all of the female politicians with more balls and sense than the republicans. >> bill: amen, amen to that. anita is calling from san antonio, texas. hi anita. >> caller: hi, how are you?

>> bill: what do you think? >> caller: well, you know, i felt like rand paul was insinuating that hillary clinton was leaving because of this whole benghazi thing. i really got that impression which is of course ridiculous. >> bill: not true. >> caller: she had planned way before that. rand paul and the whole -- i found the whole thing hilarious and to think that those people thought hillary clinton was afraid? i mean this woman just tore them apart. >> bill: i know. she really did. they more than met their match when they tried to take on secretary of state hillary clinton. and remember, they even accused her of faking an illness faking a blood clot so she wouldn't have to testify in front of them. yeah she wasn't faking anything. talk about faking. they were the fakers.

what are these republicans up to anyhow? do they realize how bad they look? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >>it doesn't get anymore real than this. (vo) current's award winning original series is back with an all new episode straight from the headlines. (vo) in the minefield of the nation's gun control debate, this could be the most polarizing issue. >> anybody can claim stand your ground and they could get away with murder.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: okay. 33 minutes after the hour. on a thursday morning. january 24. great to see you today. thank you so much for joining us here on the "full court press." former senator tom daschle joining us at the top of the next hour here on today's "full court press." we're talking about hillary clinton and her defiant

testimony yesterday in front of the senate foreign relations committee and those jerks among the republican senators of beating up on her and beating -- still beating the same old drum about benghazi. but she more and held her own but we saw one more time in action, the republican war on women. tell us what you think about hillary's testimony 1-866-55-press. back to your calls and your comments in just a minute. but here is something that might save the day for you. think about it. you're looking to earn some extra money at the end of each month. well that's something our friends at incomeathome.com can help with. incomeathome.com. they're america's leading work from home business. doing business in over 80 countries today. they've got it down. they know what they're doing. they can help you realize that goal of some extra money no matter your age education or

experience. you can literally earn money on your own computer from our own kitchen table and do it 24/7, even while you sleep. at least it is worth looking into. if you're sick of living paycheck to paycheck or worried about job security or retirement. if your goal has been to earn some extra money from home, part-time or full time, incomeathome.com is where you have to go. they're adding my listeners in record numbers. even giving away $1,000 to somebody for checking them out. that's incomeathome.com. incomeathome.com. peter, in the social media world. >> indeed. we're tweeting at bpshow. lots of people watched the hearings yesterday with hillary clinton. they were on tv. and it was must-see tv. we got a lot of comments. one of the other things we're tweeting about is the fact that women are now allowed to serve in combat. you mentioned people think women

aren't ready for combat, you weren't watching hillary. >> being a warrior is not the equal of watching people slaughter each other. this is not a victory i celebrate. it is nice we're allowing women to serve but not so great we're still fighting in the wars. on rand paul, the villain of yesterday -- >> bill: total a-hole. >> rand paul wrote the oppositions first campaign ad against his 2016 aspiration yesterday. and a bit twisted. >> bill: the thing is he thinks -- i'm sure rand paul did that yesterday figuring he was launching his 2016 presidential bid. >> absolutely. a bit twisted said hillary clinton is such a class act even when she's under verbal assault by truly insane witch-hunting g.o.p. nut jobs and on this whole ruse of benghazi and the hearings about benghazi from the current chat room, ph says i would like to see an investigation on the failures of

the world trade center on 9-11. they never did this -- they never did this for that. they never had these hearings. >> bill: no. in fact, in fact, they opposed the 9-11 commission for a long time because they didn't want to know the answers. speaking of crazy republican nut jobs, we've already heard from a few of them. john mccain, rand paul, ron johnson. when she gets to the house in the afternoon leading nut job there, jeff duncan, republican from south carolina. >> madam secretary, you let the consulate become a death trap. that's national security malpractice. you said you take responsibility. what does responsibility mean, madam secretary? you're still in your job. and there are four people at the department of state that have culpability in this that are still in their jobs. >> bill: and yet as secretary clinton pointed out yesterday

the one with real culpability here a republican dunces like jeff duncan because the secretary -- the state department had requested time after time, money to increase security at our consulates and at our embassies and it was voted down by these tea party jerks, republican jerks in the house of representatives who say we have to save money and they said putting more money in the security in the embassies is a waste of money. now they attack her for not doing the job she wasn't able to do because they blocked the funds. >> it is enough to give you a headache when you try look at the hypocrisy of guys like that who are saying she turned it into a death trap when it is on their hands. they had the ability to do something about it. and they didn't. >> bill: she slammed them. she slapped them down yesterday. in st. petersburg, florida stuart, welcome to the program. >> caller: first of all, let me say, i find that what rand paul did and being a conservative, i

think rand paul acted and sounded like a foolish child. now -- >> bill: he's no ron paul, right, stuart? >> caller: i would agree. i find what is not being done is a true investigation. how can communications have a breakdown like this and not being flagged as being very important in getting to the proper people? this is not being done. >> bill: by the way if i can that is a very important question. that's a very legitimate question. i think they are investigating that. at least that's my belief. >> caller: i would hope so. >> bill: but on that line of questioning, absolutely. we all should be asking that. go ahead. >> caller: it is not being asked. i also find that when republicans are in the hot seat and democrats are going after them, it is the same type of game. let's just attack, attack,

attack. which doesn't accomplish anything. i want to find out why did the lack of communication and the breakdown of it -- what took place? that's my -- that's the only thing i'm caring about. we lost four people in this. okay. we can't bring them back. but what can we do to make sure? when you talk about money guarding we're relying on people being -- from that country, protecting our people. i think we should have some type -- in place. >> bill: well, we're not really -- it is the responsibility -- stuart, i appreciate the call very much. i want to come back to you on one point. the responsibility for the protection at our embassies we depend on the assistance of the host government but the responsibility really comes down to this country protecting with our people protecting our people. that's why you see marines or

military u.s. military and security people at every one of our posts around the world. >> i think you could make a -- draw a real difference between the way that we handled the post-9-11 reaction and the post-benghazi reaction. after 9-11, when george bush was president, a lot of people said okay, let's figure out what went wrong. we need to be able to say the c.i.a. and the fbi have to be able to communicate more effectively. these agencies communicate more effectively. how do we get better? you know what? it has been a lot better. and nobody said we need to know why george bush let this happen. we need to know why republicans stood in the way. it is a totally different reaction. >> bill: what we had -- again which president opposed to the 9-11 commission, did a tremendous job led by tom kane of new jersey. and lee hamilton from maine. they came up with the

recommendations. they looked at it from a bipartisan way. what lessons can we learn. it was not let's bring in the secretary of state who would have been condy rice. let's bring in the secretary of state and hold her responsible for the whole damn terrorist attack. >> i would have fired you! condy rice! >> bill: that's the difference. sherry is down in brownwood texas. >> caller: good morning. >> bill: good morning. what do you think? >> caller: my only thing that i really took out of this because i expected hillary to do what she did what i'm saddened about as a progressive is john mccain has turned into a man that had regal, he was admired respected. >> bill: at one time. >> now he looks like a bitter, old man just going out to pasture. i'm really sad about that. because what happened to the john mccain we used to know and respect? i hate that -- he's ruining his own legacy.

i'm really sad about that. i am. >> bill: sherry, there is a lot of talk about that. and i was one of those. i was a mccain yak. i wrote the straight talk express and praised john mccain for being the maverick that he was. i must admit today, i don't know who is the real john mccain. is the real john mccain the guy we admired back in 2000, the maverick who was a republican, who was conservative but an independent thinker and actor. wasn't afraid to take on the people in his own party. was that the real john mccain or is the real john mccain the one that we see today the old grouch -- i said before, reminds me of an old man in his pajamas going out on his front porch saying "get off my lawn, you kids, get off my lawn! ." he's turned into a carrick catture -- caricature of a grump or the grinch.

known which one is the real john mccain but the one we see is pretty disgusting. i don't know why anybody puts him on any one of of the talk shows. he's a total waste of time. anything that he says. when we come back, republicans caved on the debt ceiling. so what's next? >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those conversations, not to be confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. >> i'm pleased speaker boehner has decided to change course and pass the bill that over the debt ceiling. >> announcer: this is the "bill

press show." >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour on the "full court press" here this thursday morning. when we come -- in the top of the next hour rather, we'll be joined by lynn sweet from the "chicago sun times" as a "friend of bill." for the whole hour. and then former senator tom daschle will be joining us at the top of the hour. the house of representatives yesterday voted overwhelmingly to lift the debt ceiling and to do so not for -- final vote was 285-144. to do so through mid may. they dropped their demands for deep spending cuts in social security and medicare as a price for raising the debt ceiling. so what is this all about? where do we go from here? michael is the finance writer for yahoo news. joining us on our news line this morning. good to have you with us. >> good morning, bill. >> bill: first of all what caused this course correction or

this change of course i should say maybe for republicans? >> seemed to be an issue that the conclusion was on the republican side, it couldn't be won as a tactical measure this isn't 2011 when they went down to the brink and markets threw a tantrum. in retrospect, they didn't extract much from it. i do think you've had the sense it was going to get raised, are we going to make this false battle. that was going to be pinned on something very specific. honestly, i think both sides right now prefer to kind of operate with this debate in the realm of ten-year budget expectations in general spending intentions. which i think is kind of where we're going if we're going to get passed this lit us for a automatic government spending cut that's still out there in a couple of months. >> bill: jay carney, i was at the briefing yesterday. he said we would prefer longer extension. we won't stand in the way of this one. and harry reid said, as we heard

here coming back from the break that he likes it and thinks it is a good move so the senate will approve it. the white house will sign it. this is going to happen, right? >> it's going to happen. obviously it means there is a lowering of the temperature around the debt ceiling specifically. it won't be the thing that's going to bring us down to the wire begin. so to me, it is only a few months. still kind of ridiculous we're on this treadmill. >> bill: what will bring us to the wire? is it going to be the sequestration or the budget or both? >> i think the sequestration simply because -- that's a lit us for a. it kicks in. obviously you can defer it one more time. but i do think that's the thing that gets the conversation really moving here because ultimately, everyone confronts as bill clinton might say the arithmetic here. almost all of the spending is built into law it is statutory it is entitlements or it's defense and so those things have

to be cut. there is not a way out of this. people look at this saying tax receipts could cover only the absolute essentials here so we have to cut into other things. i'm not -- i think it is a sequester that really does bring people out there and show their hand. >> bill: now the deal -- the bill that the house passed yesterday, the republican bill, am i understanding so it says we'll raise the debt ceiling through mid may but senate has to pass a budget, right and if they don't pass a budget, then we won't get paid as members of congress. >> right. >> bill: is that a real threat? i saw something somewhere where congress gets paid no matter what. >> here's a funny thing. obviously it is a gimmick. it is not as if people are really going to go unpaid for a long period of time. there is a constitutional concern.

the 27th amendment says you can't pass a law that pays some members of congress more or less than others. the pay would go into escrow. essentially, we'll hold back. >> bill: i got it. >> you get paid at the back end. >> bill: so you put it in a cookie jar or something like that when the time is right -- >> when your time-out is over, you get to have it. >> bill: such an obvious gimmick. and when does the -- you say that it all comes to a head, armageddon again for the sequestration. that was extended through mid march. >> march 2nd. january 2nd deal was to kick it ahead by two months. >> bill: okay. we're talking about the month of february, right or the last two weeks of february. the way they go, right or the last two days of february. probably when you know what hits the fan. >> that's true. that's why at some point again we could be on this brinksmanship, watch again.

but i do think the difference here is unlike the debt ceiling which has the huge, global third party implications whether the government refinances itself, this is an invention of congress. they've decided please, tie my hands so i don't do it again. i do think therefore there's flexibility in whether they defer it or somehow play it some other way. >> bill: michael our guest finance writer for yahoo. all of this revolves, of course around the debt and the deficit. isn't it also true that we've made significant paydowns of the debt now and that's not -- so big, right but not as serious a problem as it was a year ago. >> this i think is kind of the under tone. it is not being talked about loudly. i do think it is the context for a lot of decisions. no debt has gotten paid down. we're running annual deficits. the absolute size of the government's debt gets bigger

but the size of the deaf -- deficits have gone to under a trillion a year this year which no changes no effort really to actually do anything except for the economy to improve tax receipts to go up and you know, lower spending on sort of income support type things that the government was doing. so i do think when you have that tail wind, when all of a sudden it becomes a smaller problem versus a bigger problem it becomes easier. if you look at the long-term charts, you know, it seems like it is heading in this direction where all of a sudden, it doesn't become a big deal. the government pays less in interest in the debt than it has in decades. >> bill: all of that makes for an easier climate. michael san toly, you can follow him at finance at yahoo.com. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

(vo) vanguard is all new with a world premiere episode straight from today's headlines.

>> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. tom daschle at the top of the next hour. bill e-mails in. bill please do an a-hole of the day segment. you'll never run out of candidates. that's for sure. rich maxwell says rand paul must go. the state of benghazi was the worst event to happen was idiotic. did he ever hear of iraq? on beyonce margaret says this there is a big difference between singing outside in cold weather and singing indoors. i have trouble speaking in cold weather. please give her a break. >> bill: so why could kelly

clarkson and aretha franklin do it and not beyonce? >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: all right. good morning, good morning. it is thursday, january 24. great to see you today. and welcome to the "full court press." here on current tv. bringing you the news of the day from our nation's capital from around the country from around the globe and giving. >> chance to sound off. give us your calls, give us a call rather at 1-866-55-press. big news of the day secretary

of defense leon panetta a little later this morning, lift the ban of women serving in combat. if you don't think women are ready for combat, you ought to look at hillary clinton yesterday and her testimony in front of the senate foreign relations committee. and later the house foreign affairs committee. she was all alone up there against that whole gang of republican thugs. and she whacked them all. i take responsibility for what happened in benghazi, she said, if you take responsibility for not providing the funding we asked for to protect our embassies and consulates around the world!% score! hillary! big winner yesterday! we'll get into that and a whole lot more in the next two hours of the "full court press." stay with us. but first let's get the latest, today's current news update from lisa ferguson out in los angeles. hi lisa, good morning.

>> hey bill. good morning everyone. hundreds of thousands of front line jobs will soon be open to women. now that defense secretary leon panetta is lifting the ban on women in combat. women have already been in combat in iraq and afghanistan but this decision will officially overturn the 1994 rule banning women from the front lines. military officials say the changes will come as quickly as possible and they must give panetta the initial plans by may 15th. the pentagon won't fully enforce the new rules until 2016. this fits with the equal opportunity agenda the president outlined in his inaugural address. it was one of the last actions as defense secretary a major legacy with just 18 months in office. not everyone so upset. the family research council released a statement yesterday saying lifting the military's ban on women in combat is nothing more than a social experiment and it is just not

worth the risk. jerry boykin is the executive vice president of the council and is a retired lieutenant general. more bill up next. we'll be right back. (vo) it's a vanguard world premiere event. >>it doesn't get anymore real than this. (vo) current's award winning original series is back with an all new episode straight from the headlines. (vo) in the minefield of the nation's gun control debate, this could be the most polarizing issue. >> anybody can claim stand your ground and they could get away with murder.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: women in combat. it's going to happen today but it started yesterday with hillary clinton in front of the senate foreign relations committee. what do you say? hello, everybody. welcome to the "full court press" this thursday, january 24. we are joining you live on your local progressive talk radio station. wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours and on

current tv. good to see you today. don't forget, it is a big town hall meeting here every morning where you get to participate as well as we do, what you have to say is as important as anything we have to say. join the conversation. you can do so the old-fashioned way, by phone at 1-866-55-press. you can join us on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. regular team is here. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: together with -- phil backert has the phones and cyprian bowlding our videographer has the cameras as well. she's here so often she's just about a member of team press. lynn sweet is with the "chicago sun times." you made it in through the snow this morning. get a little closer to the microphone if you don't mind. >> i will. i wore my ski pants, long jongs

corduroys, multiple layers. heavy down coat and i'm here. now i'm overheated. [ laughter ] >> bill: you know -- >> may have to -- >> bill: you're from chicago right? >> that's why i'm dressed properly. >> bill: you're used to dealing with this kind of weather. washington is not. the federal government today is on a -- >> something leave. liberal leave day. >> bill: unscheduled leave. >> democratic administration, they call it liberal leave. that's a joke, everyone. >> bill: i got it. it just amazes me how washington comes to a standstill. >> there is about half an inch of snow in chicago where i grew up. i've lived here many years now. i still marvel on the prediction of snow causes institutions to close down here. >> bill: there will be people who stay home today using snow

as an excuse. you know it. there will be offices and businesses and schools closed or delayed. >> but we're here, on time, doing the job. >> bill: damn it we are. >> there are times that we will not have any snow but things will shut down. >> on the predictions. it is unique. i think it is unique to washington. >> bill: let's hear it for -- lynn here for the whole hour as a "friend of bill." joe cirincione from the ploughshares fund will be joining us to talk particularly about senator clin -- secretary clinton's testimony yesterday in the senate and in the house. and then angela kelly from the center for american progress will be here to update us on efforts on comprehensive immigration reform. but lynn, we start out this hour with another really good friend, a great leader for this nation. former senate majority leader tom daschle. who has a new book out actually all about the united states senate and how it works.

it worked a lot better when he was there than it is today i think. senator daschle, good to talk to you. >> good morning. >> bill: so how do you -- with your perspective senator looking now and your book, fundamentals of american government, the united states senate, how do you think it's working or not working today? >> you know, it's working in some degree beyond what most people would fully appreciate. if you look at what happened in the 11th congress, bill, they accomplished a good deal. healthcare reform, dodd frank don't ask don't tell, treaties on trade. just an amazing array and yet the perception is nothing gets done. this last couple of years unfortunately have been a lot more contentious a lot more polarized, a lot more confrontational. just a tremendous number of cloture votes so there are times when you can look at what they've done and be somewhat

pleased and satisfied and other times when you know a lot more could be done and we have to strive to do more. >> bill: right. >> well, do you think that the senate -- i want to jump into this, the filibuster rule which is the current news right now. do you predict it will be changed and how will it go through the senate? >> bill: and should it be changed? >> could it and should it? >> harry and i have talked about it. i don't mean to talk out of school but i think there are two things we used to do. we had 137 filibusters i think in the last congress and -- 113 and 137 in the congress before that. from but before that we had 45. so a huge difference. we had twice as many in two years than we had in 50 in that period of time. we did two things. one, we went into what we call a

dual track system where if there was a filibuster, we set the bill aside and moved on to another bill until the bill so-called ripened. then we did the triple track and quadruple track and quintuple track. we have to say okay, you're going to have a filibuster? we'll stay on this until the nomination gets done. that's one thing that changed. in the '80s. we gave out requirement that people had to hold the floor. so you can now technically filibuster and not pay a price whatsoever. i think the time has come to say you want a filibuster. we're going to call you out and stay on the nomination or bill and number three you've gotta hold the floor for days if you think it's that important. we would do those two things, i think we would go back to the record we had from 1917 to 1967. >> bill: bring backstrom thurmon -- bring back strom

thurmond. >> do you think from what you know that the rule will be changed and the negotiations will work out? >> i think senator reid and senator mcconnell have worked out -- i shouldn't say they have worked out. i think they're working on trying to get an agreement on modification, especially on -- you can actually filibuster a bill twice. you can filibuster a bill on the so-called motion to proceed. whether you should even take up the bill and then you can filibuster again -- actually three times. then you can filibuster once you're on the bill and you can filibuster an amendment to the bill. so what they're working on, as i understand it, i haven't talked to senator reid about this. as i understand it, they're taking away one of the motions on -- motion to proceed. you couldn't filibuster on that. that's a start. but as i say, i'm not sure rules changes are important as going back to the old practices we had when the system really worked.

>> bill: it's that motion to proceed, i think which is the one that bugs people the most. because you can't even get to the point of an up-or-down vote, right? >> that's right. >> bill: seems particularly unfair. >> up and down votes are something that i think that's one of the myths of how congress works. we know the house never rarely has an up-or-down vote because of the majority of the majority rule that often is imposed. >> bill: the hastert rule. >> senator, do you think people would be surprised if they realized how few up and down votes there are in the house and senate? >> especially in the last couple of years, lynn, it has been remarkable. set a new record for recent history. i think you have to go all the way back to the 40s so find a time when so little legislation was enacted. you're right. this has not been a very productive couple of years and hopefully that will change this time. >> bill: senator tom daschle is our guest. new book out published by our

good friend, tom dunn from st. martin's press in new york. we have the same publisher and a good friend of ours. his new book is "the u.s. senate, how it works or how it doesn't work." i want to ask you senator i do agree with you that the senate particularly, which used to be kind of perceived i think, as a slower body where not much got done has accomplished more than the house was able to in the last few years. it was the senate that first passed the bill giving 98% of americans a tax cut right? and that was a bipartisan measure. but do you see a lack of willingness to work together, work across the aisle that was -- that was the rule when you were majority leader? >> well, there is a good deal of that. unfortunately, i think the bigger problem bill is you've got this -- almost polar existence between the house and the senate right now. you've got the house that is led in large measure by the tea

party and then you've got the senate that -- in many respects is not much different from what it has been. although you've got a few very, very vocal members who are attempting to do to the senate which has been done to the house. so of course, one person, one senator can hold up everything. rand paul disa pretty good job of it -- disa pretty good job of it these days. much more polarized than it should be. on a second level, very quietly somewhat clandestinely, you hear -- in fact, i get reports from my former colleagues about meetings going on and little groups starting and gangs of six or five or two or something always working on issues. so there is sort of an encouraging undercurrent that i think is only happening in the senate. i never hear that happening in the house.

>> could part of it be it is just smaller -- we have a gang working right now on immigration reform that is going -- i think it's a gang of six. it is usually even numbers otherwise the group can't work. debt issues. so do you think it is because the chamber is more collegial or smaller and people know each other or people have the security of a six-year term that they could do some longer term planning. is it the chemistry, the dna of a senate that makes it different where you can't have the gangs try to do stuff? >> i think it is all of the above. what concerns me and i made -- point i made mention of this a couple of times in other venues but what troubles me is it's now custom for house members when they get elected to lead their families and their states and their districts and not to move them to washington. when i got elected way way back in '78 everybody moved their families to washington because

they were family. now you don't do that. now you leave them in your district. you leave on thursdays, you come back on tuesdays. and you're supposed to run the country on wednesdays and unfortunately, you never get to know who you're running it with. but in the senate, because it's a longer term, there's less of that. there is still some of that. new senators still have their families in their state but i think it's the longer term, the opportunity really to get to know everybody in the institution a little bit more and you know, i think -- and there has been a tremendous turnover. my number in the senate was 1776, number i'm proud of. but the latest number is 1945. so just since i was there, we've had -- almost 200 new members of the senate. that undermines, i think the ability, that rapid turnover, the ability of people to work together. >> bill: senator finally i've got to ask you -- talking with former senator tom daschle from north dakota, author of the

new book "the u.s. senate." published by st. martin's press. senator, you -- we remember when we were -- we overlapped for a little while there at the center for american progress. you were often in studio with us at the center. i remember you were the first one to come in and endorse barack obama for president. you did that on our program. and whenever you came in, senator, you were always accompanied by a young man we got to know and love by the name of dennis mcdonough. is he going to be the next chief of staff for president obama? and do you think he's up to the job? >> well, you've got a great memory and you're exactly right bill. he and i would trudge in together. i was inclined to give him the microphone half the time. he could certainly handle it. i think he will be. i can't speak officially for the administration but i think it is very likely that sometime this

week, we'll get that announcement and i must say i think he'll do a phenomenal job. he's somebody i had the good fortune to work with for many, many years. he's very smart. he's very -- he's got an amazing relationship with the president. he knows the hill. he worked with lee hamilton on the house side and with me in the senate and now in the white house and he's got a great network so he's got all of the makings, i think of a really, really good chief of staff. >> bill: from your lips to god's ears. >> and also, i mean maybe listeners don't know that senator, some of your key staffers went over to then senator obama's office are still in the white house and another one is pete rouse who was your chief of staff who went on to become senator obama's chief of staff and who has been a top white house adviser. >> that's right. i'm still impressed that he takes my calls. [ laughter ] >> so you think the chief of staff announcement will come this week.

>> i think so. >> is that an informed guess? >> i'll just leave it at that. [ laughter ] i think it's going to be good news regardless. >> bill: senator, thank you. congratulations on the new book. >> thank you so much for having me. >> bill: best to you and to linda, too. 1-866-55-press is our toll free number. lynn sweet in studio with us from "chicago sun times." i think we made a little news there, folks. senator tom daschle predicting this week, that means today or tomorrow lynn. >> i'm aware. yes. i've taken note. >> bill: announcement of the new chief staff of the white house. heard it here first. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." show, to be able to come away armed with the facts, and the

arguments to feel confident in their positions. i want them to have the data and i want them to have the passion.

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alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us.

>> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. >> bill: hey how about it. 26 minutes after the hour here on the "full court press." lynn sweet washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun times" here as a "friend of bill" this hour. together with the team press. so lynn, we already -- we just appointed a new white house chief of staff. let's see what else we can get done. >> no, tom daschle who is in a position to be very well-informed about developments. >> bill: obviously very close to dennis mcdonough. >> and peter rouse. and barack obama. >> bill: right all three. first senator to endorse -- former senator then. leader to endorse -- >> after the first senator was dick durbin. as he would say, he was the first senator and i think it was 14 or 18 months until there was a second senator. it was a long time. >> bill: oh, really? >> daschle by then was out of office. >> bill: i see. right. of course.

so we have so much to talk about today. secretary clinton yesterday. >> wow. >> bill: in front of the senate foreign relations committee. leon panetta lifting the ban today on women in combat. john boehner saying president obama wants to an annihilate the republican party. all of that in the next half hour. i want to ask you right now what did you think of the inaugural ceremony. haven't seen you since and the president's inaugural address? >> some quick takeaways better address than in -- in 2013 than in 2009 because -- this is where the shortness helps because you can get a point. he wanted -- he laid out his broad ideals of what he believes in. and actually that's fine. first time around, it was too much of a list. i want to do this, that. you don't need it, you got the state of the union february 12th. it was -- it was very -- as a lot of people agreed with analysis i have and many others,

it was, i think finally a tribute to the people who brought him to the dance because he talked about the very progressive and liberal ideals that he wants to be engaged in his second term. that's a quick take away. it also -- in a sense that speech was a tribute to the people who helped re-elect him. so often president barack obama's career, he realized he had locked in his support they had nowhere to go so they did get ignored. he was very eager to try to make the cross aisle relations coalitions which did not work in congress in the last four years. so my third take away, i was grateful it was warmer. his speech didn't tell us how -- what is the answer to finding common ground. he described a problem. >> bill: all right. you got it. lynn sweet we continue here on the "full court press."

>>it doesn't get anymore real than this. (vo) current's award winning original series is back with an all new episode straight from the headlines. (vo) in the minefield of the nation's gun control debate, this could be the most polarizing issue. >> anybody can claim stand your ground and they could get away with murder.

>> announcer: chatting with you live at current.com/billpress this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: thursday, january 24. 33 minutes after the hour. the "full court press." coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station and on current tv with the news of the day and your calls at 1-866-55-press. the biggest story of the day headline here in "the new york times," equality at the front line. pentagon set to lift ban on women in combat. lynn sweet is the washington

bureau chief for the "chicago sun times" in studio this hour as a "friend of bill." lynn as joe biden would say this is a bfd. >> it is. long overdue. it is recognition that many women are -- it is not official but they're doing combat. and i know we'll be talking about representative tammy duckworth who is a freshman lawmaker but who is a wounded iraq war vet who certainly sacrificed in combat so let's make it official. and i think the point is you still have -- you still have to fit certain standards. if a man or woman doesn't fit a standard they can't do the job. >> bill: right. if there is a reason you can't have somebody who's not strong enough to do a certain job, then they won't do it. just like you have certain men who won't be doing certain jobs if they're not strong enough and i think it's long overdue. >> bill: it has been pointed out some 20,000 women -- because it is sometimes impossible, you never know where combat is going

to occur. the 20,000 women have actually already served in combat in iraq and afghanistan. 800 and some wounded. 130 women have given their lives in iraq and afghanistan. you mentioned tammy duckworth whom i admire so much. new member of congress from illinois. lost both her legs and badly damaged one arm when her helicopter -- she was a helicopter -- her helicopter crashed. former assistant secretary of veterans affairs for president obama. and she pointed out yesterday you know, this is really just kind of making -- making it official, lynn because women have been doing this. >> women are already doing these jobs. they just need the ability to formally occupy them so that they can themselves, go up through the ranks and then become great leaders in our military too. >> bill: 238,000 positions this will open up to women.

>> actually, congresswoman duckworth made a very important point because in the military, the way to get ahead is to have your credentials as in combat and to deny women who have been in combat that formalization has put them behind. that's important. that's another reason why this change is important. >> bill: in terms of leadership roles. >> absolutely. >> bill: it is interesting -- "the new york times" points out also -- first, let me ask you this question. leon panetta, i would assume leon panetta would not do this unless president obama has approved it. >> i can't imagine changing the policy like this without the approval of the white house. >> bill: in some ways, the president in his inaugural address was talking about this promise of equal opportunity guaranteed in the constitution and that our mission is to make sure that those words actually are real today. this is a very concrete example of that, isn't it? >> it is.

i suppose the timing -- the white house has the advantage of knowing the future. so they could know what the news may be tomorrow or the next day. so they look pretty smart in predicting things, don't they? >> bill: or they were talking about this. they said you know the perfect time to announce this would be two days after the inaugural address. >> second term, you want to know what obama's accomplished? he already will point in the second week, here's something that my second term changed. so many women in the military are excluded from these jobs that you cannot -- that's why this is so overdue. you just can't have a sustained military effort, excluding women from so many jobs. >> bill: isn't it interesting too, that leon panetta would do this basically as his swan song -- as defense secretary he's only been there 18 months but this will be huge for his legacy. >> it is big for his legacy. also it takes -- i don't know if

this is going to erupt into a controversy and his recommendation of the joint chiefs of staff. but -- >> bill: i just want to underscore what you just said. this recommendation really came from the joint chiefs, the military the generals told him -- they sent him a letter -- i forget. i read it in "the new york times" recently where they said it is time to do this. >> this has been in the pipeline. this has been studied. this isn't somebody woke up one morning. this has been long long, long under consideration. i would just think if it's something that panetta has shuffled through his tenure, i wanted to bring it to a conclusion before he goes. also why give -- if as many predict that defense secretary spot will be occupied by chuck hagel, then why start him out with any kind of controversy just get it done. give him a clean start. >> bill: right. theory is, the joint chiefs in a letter to the secretary said "the time has come to rescind

the direct combat exclusion rule for women and to eliminate all unnecessary gender-based barriers to service." that's what the generals are saying. your thoughts on combat, lifting the ban on women serving in combat. it's going to happen a little bit later today. 1-866-55-press. talking with lynn sweet washington bureau chief of the "chicago sun times." speaking of women in combat, secretary of state hillary clinton, i just want to play, dan, the one clip when this summed it up. she was attacked by rand paul and john mccain and by ron johnson of wisconsin which is very tough very patient. ron johnson finally got under her skin and she fired back. >> again, we were misledsh there were supposedly protests and something sprang out of that. an assault sprang out of that. that was easily ascertained that that was not the fact. american people could have known that within days. >> with all due respect the

fact is we had four dead americans. >> i understand that. >> was it because of the protest or guys out for a walk one night who decided they would kill some americans? what difference, at this point does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again senator. >> bill: wham, bam! >> well, it was. it was remarkable. she went -- she sat for two hearings. house and senate. the thing with senator johnson was the most dramatic point. it was maybe a minute and a half of two long hearings. >> bill: at least three or four hours. >> here's what's interesting. the difference -- senator mccain gave her tough -- i like to call it professional questioning. he had a point of view. long been a critic of how the obama administration handled the benghazi attack and the susan rice explanation but he just was crisp. he made his point. lot of shots. asked questions.

overdue giving a speech. the reason that i think johnson got under her skin is when you keep asking her about the susan rice talking points, that's why she didn't -- i think that's why she erupted. it is not as if she had not by that point explained it had been covered. rand paul saying you should have been fired and all of that. that is not as constructive a questioning as find out something new, senator. you have -- you have in the hot seat. ask a question. if you think she's going to be on the job or they're hiding something, ask a question that will bring out a new fact. >> bill: yeah. here's rand paul with his -- two things he says here. number one, i would have fired you. before that, talking about equating this to 9-11. pipsqueak paul. >> i'm glad that you're accepting responsibility. i think that ultimately with your leaving, you accept the culpability for the worst

tragedy since 9-11. and i really mean that. and i've been president at the time and i found that you did not read the cables from benghazi. you did not read the cables from besser stevens. i think it is inexcusable. i would have relieved you from your post. >> bill: first of all, he will never be president of the united states. >> no, i don't see how he could. >> bill: he says so much there. first of all he implies that she's leaving because of benghazi which is certainly not true. >> it is not true. everyone knows that she announced her departure a long time ago. but i think -- when we talked about the senate and how it works, the stuff that former senator daschle talked about at the beginning of the show, the collegiality, there is a way of being tough without being nasty and that's what the point -- the point i wanted to make about senator mccain. tough but not nasty. ask a question. there have been, sad to say many tragedies around the world

since 9-11 involving people and terrorist attacks and i just think to equate it with 9-11, it isn't true. >> bill: some of our callers earlier this morning pointed out did you ever hear of iraq? there were over 5,000 americans killed in an unnecessary illegal war in iraq. >> or the troops -- that fought in afghanistan that, fought in iraq and durbin, in a rebuttal, senator durbin brought up, i thought a great point not really a smackdown of rand by name, he said by the way, who is the one that talked about weapons of mass destruction in iraq? now who was fired over that by the way? i think that point was well-made. >> bill: so much to talk about here. let's take a quick break. your calls about women in combat and the importance of that going to happen later today. i'm sure you saw hillary clinton yesterday. more than holding her own.

in front of the senate foreign relations committee. lynn sweet with us as a "friend of bill." you, friends of bill, give us a call at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv. but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

these talking points, that the right have, about the "heavy hand of government" ... i want to have that conversation. really? you know i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. 13 minutes before the top of the hour here on the "full court press." this thursday, january 24. lynn sweet is in studio with us as a "friend of bill."

we'll get back to your calls in just a second here and your comments on the social media on women in combat and on hillary clinton yesterday. joe cirincione from the ploughshares fund at the top of the next hour on the big election in israel. and other issues. but first this article caught my attention. upper new york state a former registry clerk at a hospital arrested pleaded guilty to identity theft. she was working at the emergency room checking patients in, stealing their personal information as she checked them in. making copy for herself in other words and using that to apply for more than 130 credit cards in other people's names. one of the worst cases of identity theft i've heard of. you gotta protect yourself against it. i am with what's called lifelock ultimate. encourage you to look into the same. it is most comprehensive i.d. theft protection out there. even includes monitoring your bank accounts. of course, lifelock can't

protect you or your bank account if you're not a member. call now and mention press 60. you'll get 60 risk-free days of lifelock ultimate identity theft protection. if you're not happy call them again within 60 days and cancel. they'll give you a full refund. see lifelock.com for details. 1-800-356-5967 for lifelock ultimate. social media world peter? >> on twitter at bpshow. we have a variety of comments. we'll start out with benghazi. fiscal clifford tweeted us and said i bet most of these republicans yesterday couldn't find benghazi on a map. we talked about the inauguration and barack obama's inauguration speech. tina herald says if obama's inaugural address is progressive, then so is america's public opinions since they agree with most of his

points. on the women in combat, a very interesting comment tammy duckworth who is recently elected to congress and lost her legs in the war she says i didn't lose my legs in a bar fight. i'm pretty sure it was in combat. on whether or not women are ready to actually serve in combat. and couple of people on twitter at bpshow tweeted us. maggie says we've been serving alongside male counter parts for years. we may be recognized for combat service and compete for commands. again, we're tweeting at bpshow. >> bill: is it more money for combat duty? >> i think there is a premium. i think so. certainly, you get more money if you move up in the ranks which is most important career ladder -- that's the resume punch you need. so even if you -- yes. that's what you need both ways to get more money. >> that i think was the big driving force behind all of this. you can only go so far if you haven't -- >> exactly. >> you have the credential. you also have the respect of

your peers because you've been there. how many times do you read stories or profiles of generals and it says well, when he was in combat here or there or vietnam world war ii, this or that, you look at the profiles of people who go into high command there almost always is some kind of an act of combat element. >> bill: let's say hello to mary calling from chicago. good morning. >> caller: good morning. >> bill: what's up? >> caller: well, i just have a question what you were saying for tammy duckworth i'm all for the women and the combat. does this mean that women will have to sign up for selective service and furthermore that men do not -- they won't be denied if they do not sign up for selective service? they're denied financial aid? >> bill: well, boy i'm not really sure. but we have an all volunteer army today. i don't know if you would still have to sign up for selective service? >> absolutely.

>> bill: men and women have to sign up. >> i would assume so, now. it is a good question. it is a valid question. >> bill: mary, as jay carney says at the podium at the briefings, i'll take the question meaning i'll look into it. we'll look into it and give you an answer. i would assume both men and women, young men and women would have to sign up and but simply it is all volunteer today. so the women in the military today, lynn, are all volunteers, right? >> yes. >> bill: men and women. >> yes. that's the main thing. i'm looking right now. i just looked up -- >> i have it on wikipedia. >> selective service law as it is written refers specifically to male persons. who must register and drafted. for women to be required to register with the selective service, congress would have to amend the law which exempts women from registration. >> right. i'm looking at -- if you want the bills go to sss.gov which stands for the selective service

and men 26 and older is what it's about. these have the rules on it. if you want a government source to talk about it, go to sss.gov. >> slip a real journalist. i go to wikipedia. >> your listeners. want to go to the source itself, it is there to get the briefing. >> caller from chicago what neighborhood are you from? >> bill: she's gone. >> i wanted to give her a special hello. >> bill: you can. she's still watching. i want to add a little bit of trivia to end this conversation which is that the head of the selective service is the husband of congresswoman lucille roybal-allard from los angeles. ran into them at a party yesterday and was chatting with him. found out he was head of the selective service. so if i had his business card, we could call him up. i think his name is william allard.

you guys found it out anyhow. lynn, we barely scratched the surface it seems. here we are at the end of our time together. thank you for coming in. >> thanks so much for having me. >> bill: put your ski pants back on and go back out in the cold. >> be careful out there. >> bill: all right. we'll be right back and i'll tell what you the p.o.t.u.s. is up to today. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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